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Biden says ‘we can talk’ about Israel-Hamas cease-fire after hostages are released

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

President Biden said Monday that he would be willing to engage in talks about a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas if the hostages taken by the militant group were released. In response to a question by a reporter about whether the U.S. would support a potential cease-fire for a hostages deal, Biden replied: “We should have those hostages released, and then we can talk.”Among the more than 200 hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas are a contingent of Americans that the U.S. has been attempting to free. Two of those Americans were released last week by Hamas in a deal brokered by Qatar. On Monday, right around the time Biden made his remark, two more hostages were released, The Associated Press reported, citing the International Committee of the Red Cross.  National security spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that a handful of Americans are still being detained as hostages, while more than 10 Americans remain unaccounted for.The White House has been sidest...

Commission holds interviews to fill another vacancy on Missouri Supreme Court

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – For the second time in two months, interviews are underway in Missouri's capital city to fill the vacant seat on the state's highest court.More than 20 people have applied to be Missouri's next Supreme Court judge. Under the state's nonpartisan court plan, members of the Appellate Judicial Commission will interview all applicants and then send the names of the three finalists to the governor, who will make the appointment. All but one of the applicants interviewed in August for the previous vacancy, which is why the commission is abbreviating interviews."We have allotted seven minutes for each applicant to tell us whatever they want us to hear," Chief Justice Mary Russell said as the applicants came into the interview room Monday.The vacancy comes after Judge Patricia Breckenridge retired earlier this month following a constitutional requirement that judges must step down when they turn 70. Breckenridge was appointed to the bench in 2007 by Republican Gov. Matt...

Upon Further Review: Broncos struggle in red zone vs. Packers, continuing recent trend

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Denver’s 19-17 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon wasn’t pretty. Neither was its red zone offense, which head coach Sean Payton said earlier in the week needs improvement.The Broncos converted one touchdown on four red zone attempts in their first home victory of the season. And even though quarterback Russell Wilson’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton in the third quarter was a sweet play design, two drives in particular showed some of the problems that have plagued Denver in the red area in 2023.First let’s examine the Broncos’ red zone opportunity to start the second quarter. Denver was pinned at Green Bay’s 24-yard line when Wilson hit Sutton for an 11-yard completion to advance the ball on third down. The following plays were unsuccessful. Running back Javonte Williams was stopped for a 3-yard gain before Green Bay’s pass rush forced Wilson to throw two straight incomplete passes. Denver had to settle for a 29-yard field goal to take a 6-0 with 13:14 le...

Kiszla vs. Durando: Will the Nuggets win it all again in 2023-24?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Kiz: When you’re the NBA champ, it’s not the champagne hangover that gets you, but the daily grind that makes it so hard to repeat. Here. We. Go. Starting Tuesday night, when the Nuggets raise their championship banner at Ball Arena, if it’s not LeBron James hellbent on trying to take down Denver a notch, it will be Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum or Giannis Antetokounmpo itching for a fight. Are the Nuggets built for this challenge? Or is their quest to repeat doomed to defeat?Durando: When your roster’s depth gets worse, at least on paper, and other teams make ambitious improvements (welcome to being a champion in a salary cap league, Nuggets), the onus is on returning players to find ways to turn it up a notch. Otherwise, the game catches up with you eventually. The good news? I think there’s still clearly space for Denver’s second-, third- and fourth-best players to reach new individual heights. And when you share the floor with a surgeon like Niko...

Michael Porter Jr. on Lakers-Nuggets offseason trash talk: “I haven’t heard anything”

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Michael Porter Jr. didn’t even play in either game against Milwaukee in 2021-22, yet he still remembers the extra motivation he felt to beat the Bucks from the seat of his chair.“When we would play them, it’s a different feeling when you’re playing the NBA champs,” Porter recalled Monday, on the eve of Denver’s first official game as a defending champion. “You just know if you can beat them, you’re up there with the best teams. So guys are gonna come in here and want to beat us just to prove that they’re one of the best teams as well. … I think we’ve gotta embrace that and realize, ‘Man, even the teams that we don’t feel like are threats to us, they’re gonna come out and try to beat us.'”Then there’s the opening-night opponent — very much a threat to Denver — that has half organically, half artificially generated extra bulletin board material this offseason, as if spoiling a team’s ...

Monterey Park releases video of hit-and-run involving box truck driver

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Authorities in Monterey Park have released surveillance video of a violent hit-and-run crash involving a box truck with the aim of catching the driver who caused it.The collision happened at the intersection of New Avenue and Garvey Avenue at about 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 18.Surveillance video from two angles shows the driver of a white box truck fail to stop at a red light, plow into a white sedan, and then drive away.Surveillance cameras captured the driver of a box truck run a red light and collided with a sedan in Monterey Park, Calif. on Oct. 18, 2023. (City of Monterey Park)Surveillance cameras captured the driver of a box truck run a red light and collided with a sedan in Monterey Park, Calif. on Oct. 18, 2023. (City of Monterey Park)Surveillance cameras captured the driver of a box truck run a red light and collided with a sedan in Monterey Park, Calif. on Oct. 18, 2023. (City of Monterey Park)The occupants of the sedan had to be rescued using the “jaws of life,” Monterey Park Pol...

Sears reopened a store in Burbank and shoppers have thoughts

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Stepping into the Burbank Town Center feels a lot like visiting your typical shopping mall in 2023. There's a bustling food court, some department stores, large footprint spaces reconfigured as a gym and batting cages and several vacant storefronts.But as of this week, a familiar sight now welcomes shoppers: Sears.Once a titan of brick-and-mortar industry with hundreds of locations across the globe, Sears has fallen on hard times with the vast majority of its stores closing up shop and shuttering doors for good. The company filed for bankruptcy and liquidated most of its assets, coming out of bankruptcy with fewer than 25 stores remaining, and that number has continued to dwindle. As of May 2023, there were only 11 Sears locations left in the world. Just last year, Sears bid adieu to the Burbank Town Center, leaving the mall with an anchor store-sized hole to fill. Despite the closure, the presence of Sears still loomed, with intact signage and storefront still visible across its th...

What we know about the pilot accused of trying to bring down a Horizon Air jet

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Joseph David Emerson is facing 167 charges after authorities say he tried to shut down the engines of a plane bound for San Francisco while he was off-duty and in the cockpit. Emerson, 44, is an FAA-licensed pilot who lives in Pleasant Hill, California. He is now accused of attempting to murder 83 people who were onboard the passenger flight Sunday evening, according to jail booking records. Neighbors described Emerson as a "positive, very friendly, upbeat," father of two.On a quiet street in Pleasant Hill, Emerson, his wife, and two young sons live in a one-story house decorated with Halloween ghosts, tombstones, and skeleton displays on the front lawn. Pilot on California-bound flight tried to shut down engines mid-air, authorities say One neighbor, Karen Yee, told KTLA sister station KRON4 that the pilot's children sometimes go over to her house to play. "We still can't believe it. We are still shocked. It doesn't sound like Joe at all. I don't know what happened to him mentall...

Authorities identify Santa Barbara Main Jail inmate who died after apparent suicide

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

Authorities with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office have identified the male inmate who died in custody from an apparent suicide on Saturday.The deceased inmate has been identified as 64-year-old Paul Howard Gillett of Santa Barbara.Gillett was booked at the Main Jail on Sept. 29 for assault with a deadly weapon and battery. He was also held on court remand for violating probation by driving under the influence. Gillett’s bail was set at $45,000, officials said.At approximately 6:20 a.m., jail staff found Gillett unresponsive in his cell, and when they entered the cell, they found a piece of linen tied around his neck, a news release said.Medical staff and paramedics responded to the scene and performed life-saving measures, but the inmate did not recover and was pronounced dead at 6:30 a.m.While Gillett died from an apparent suicide, the final cause and manner of death will be released pending toxicology results.

Why Bob Melvin does — or doesn’t — make sense as SF Giants’ next manager

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:52 GMT

When the San Francisco Giants made the decision to fire manager Gabe Kapler with three games left in the season, Farhan Zaidi said they planned to “cast a wide net” and look beyond candidates with ties to him, the organization or the Bay Area.They have looked as far as Boston and a candidate who has spent his baseball life there, on the opposite coast, in a different league. They have widened their search to groundbreaking parameters, the first club in MLB history to formally interview a woman for their managerial post. One candidate finished his 36th season in the organization; another celebrates his 39th birthday next week.All roads, it turns out, lead back to the most obvious candidate all along, the one who was in the opposite dugout for Kapler’s 543rd and, it would be announced almost 48 hours later, final game as Giants manager.With the Padres granting the Giants’ request to interview Bob Melvin, as The Athletic first reported, the three-time manager of...